Kitsune Metsuki
by hanekarasu
Summary: Rukawa goes to London to meet a girl and switches places with Sendoh because of a dream of hitting this girl...since when did he care about girls?[chap 13 is up ^.^]
1. Prologue

Disclaimers :  
  
Slam dunk isn't mine [Inoue Takehito owns it…]  
  
This is my first attempt to write an SD fic, actually my first attempt to write a humor fic, please don't expect much  
  
This is still unedited  
  
Reviews aren't necessary, but they will be appreciated  
  
This is really confusing stuff so hold on to your seatbelts. Per scene is written on a certain character's point of view. If Rukawa and Sendoh are addressed in their first names, it would be the girl's point of view. If they are addressed in their last names, it would be the guys' point of view ^.^ A simple tip for those who might get baffled while reading…  
  
I don't wanna bore you with other A/N's so I'd shut up…^^ arigatou minna- san!  
  
  
  
***  
  
Prologue  
  
Snow was gently falling on the streets of midtown London. People garbed in thick clothes were swarming everywhere, chattering noisily about the celebrations to come. The sky was dark, and a few stars twinkled in the blue-black velvet sky. Cheery Christmas carols spilled sound over the busy lane.  
  
'When will we see each other again?' a little blonde girl asked the little Japanese boy in front of her, who was busy piling snow upon the second ball of their small snowman. They were playing in the yard of the little girl's house.  
  
He looked at her and forced himself to smile. His face twitched, until a smirk formed on his face. Somehow that smile could not get through his naturally glaring eyes. He shrugged. 'I not do know,' he answered.  
  
The little girl giggled at his wrong grammar and threw him a snowball. 'Okay, we'll write letters instead,' she told him. 'Whee!' she flopped to the snow-covered ground and made snow angels with her arms and legs. She laughed.  
  
Blinking, the little boy joined in and imitated her. 'Retter?' he asked, flipping his arms up and down, up and down.  
  
'Yep!' she exclaimed. 'Does it snow on Japan too?'  
  
'Hai,' he said, then coughed, correcting himself. 'Yes.'  
  
She smiled, looking up the stars. 'Then it is not different from London. Why do you have to leave?' she pouted.  
  
He shrugged again. 'Okasan want. Otosan want.'  
  
Sighing, she sat up and shook the snow off her hair. 'Brr!' Then she grinned mischievously at him. 'Prepare for attack!' she yelled, making snowballs and throwing them at the startled boy.  
  
He in turn took cue and threw snowballs at her too. He aimed, in a basketball-shooting stance and threw…and threw. He never missed a shot. He hit her on the face continuously and dashed away, laughing with his eyes narrowed. 


	2. Two Ends of the World

Chapter 1  
  
'Nick, where are my papers?' a fat man yelled from the other side of the large office. People were busy scampering inside, all with grim and busy faces. Angry yells resounded across the halls from inside the hectic room.  
  
'I placed them on your table,' she yelled back. Nicole Stuart was assistant editor for the popular Élan magazine, and was currently having a chaotic schedule due to the delay of its December edition.  
  
Frustrated, she ran a hand over her short blond hair and walked briskly over to the fat guy. 'Dean if you're not going to stop, I'll be forced to resign before the end of this year,' she warned him, her eyes burning. 'The delay is not my fault! If you hadn't left the pictures of Cameron Diaz in the public toilet, the magazine would've been out by the end of November!'  
  
'I never thought that much people had a crush on Cameron Diaz!' he retorted. 'Besides, I had a bad case of constipation that day.'  
  
'Oh that is so right,' she snapped. 'Because if you do you wouldn't be leaving those pictures there now would you? For all we know someone would be selling them to cheap stores! Do you know one picture of that lady is worth $ 50,000!' She rolled her eyes and flailed her arms in the air in exasperation. 'Personally I do not get the point of bringing those pictures in a public toilet.'  
  
Dean seemed to shrink in size as the whole room gasped. 'Well I had no one to hold them outside the cubicle,' he stammered.  
  
Whispers erupted. *sweatdrops appearing one by one…*  
  
'Public toilet?'  
  
'That's embarrassing…'  
  
'I heard there are 10 pictures of Cameron Diaz in that envelope…so that's half a million…'  
  
'Goddamn…'  
  
Nicole went on, ignoring the murmurs in the room. 'How irresponsible can you get?" she cried out. 'For god's sake!' Annoyed, she let out a high- pitched scream.  
  
Immediately, the whole room silenced itself. All eyes were on her, startled.  
  
'Uh…Nick, I think you should come over here for a second…well…you have mail from a friend,' Heather Davidson, one of the staff said suddenly, breaking the silence.  
  
Soon the room was bursting with energy again.  
  
Sighing, Nicole walked back to her desk and grabbed the letter from Heather's hand.  
  
*  
  
Imagine Rukawa and Sendoh in business suits at the 30th floor of a building in the middle of Tokyo.  
  
'When will you leave?' Sendoh Akira asked Rukawa Kaede one winter morning. They held positions in the same sports company dealing with recruitments of new basketball players for a brewing national league.  
  
'Two days,' Rukawa replied, not taking his small eyes from the basketball game flashing in the TV screen, which he was tasked to critique. That was his job. Criticize players. Something he was so good especially with Sakuragi Hanamichi.  
  
'Hmm…London is a bit far away,' Sendoh said thoughtfully. 'Tell me, what are you planning to do there?'  
  
'Nothing.'  
  
Rukawa could not remember how exactly he landed on the same company with Sendoh. As far as Rukawa was concerned, the company ran after him and begged him to work at that company. And to think they were too desperate that they moved the company near Rukawa's house so he would not have any trouble going back and forth from work [because the company researched too much and found out he usually slept on the way…]  
  
He graduated from Business Management in Seikei University a year ago. He was forced to take that course for his wealthy father ran a business and insisted Rukawa be his heir. Rukawa, a good son he was, accepted the offer [also because of the fact Seikei University compromised a scholarship for him, ticket to the national games and a trip to London after 5 years].  
  
Then one morning, while Rukawa was in the middle of his precious sleep, he stumbled over several boxes that stood on his usual way to his desk. It turned out Sendoh was assigned a very peculiar job which meant he would be sharing the same room as Rukawa. His job---waking Rukawa up.  
  
Well they lived peacefully despite former disputes in their high school years. They practiced basketball by throwing crumpled papers into the trash bin located behind the office door. In fact they were so caught up with it, that Sendoh installed an improvised hoop above the mouth of the trash bin.  
  
Anyway…the point of it all, they became close friends. That is, if anyone dares believe it.  
  
'It's the scholarship thing isn't it?' Sendoh asked, spinning himself in his turnable chair.  
  
'Sort of,' Rukawa replied. Lamely, Sendoh tossed him a crumpled paper, which in turn Rukawa threw into the bin. It was simply Sendoh's way of keeping Rukawa awake. Often Sendoh would see Rukawa asleep in his desk, and his only waking-up pill was basketball.  
  
'Then what is it?' Sendoh pressed. He ran his hand through his gelled hair, and it ended up stuck in the middle of his tresses. He overdid his gel this morning. Frantically he tried to pull it off, standing up from his chair while scowling at his hair.  
  
Rukawa ignored him. 'Baka yarou…' he muttered under his breath.  
  
'Oh by the way Rukawa-kun,' Sendoh said, sitting back on his revolving chair. 'The company told me to go with you to London,' he announced, with that same old smile.  
  
'Nandato?' Rukawa could not believe his ears. He peered at Sendoh behind his long bangs with his kitsune eyes. 'Kimi wa kirenai…'  
  
'Doushite?' Sendoh challenged.  
  
'Datte…' Rukawa's voice trailed off. He could not remember himself losing his calm over some pointless business of his. Somehow this trip to London seemed a little too messy even for his indifference.  
  
He could not bear think what will happen next…if Sendoh found out… 


	3. Switch 1

Chapter 2 – Switch 1  
  
Nicole nearly fell off her chair after reading the letter. 'He won't be…' she muttered under her breath.  
  
'Nick? Is there something wrong?' Heather asked, seeing Nicole's face turn pale.  
  
'My old friend is coming back to London…well, well after twelve years…' Nicole answered. 'He can't see me like this!' she exclaimed.  
  
Nicole was a lesbian.…sort of. And she looked too much of a guy that she could handle sneak into the little boy's room when emptying her…you know what. Most of her friends did not consider her a girl actually. Many people did not know how she did it, but she managed conceal her girliness [that is her…chest…] under her boyish clothes.  
  
And to top it all, she had a girlfriend.  
  
'Old friend?' Heather asked.  
  
'We used to play snowballs when we were young,' she told Heather. 'He used to make my face the hoop of his basketball snowball…' She blushed at the memory.  
  
Heather blinked. 'He?'  
  
'Yes yes,' Nicole admitted, sitting back on her chair. 'He's Japanese…says he 's got business here…some basketball company whatsoever…'  
  
'Hmm…' Heather's eyes twinkled.  
  
'Don't give me that look,' Nicole told Heather sharply. 'If Andrea finds out---'  
  
'You're already a girl at last?'  
  
'No. That I have a guy friend or something…she'd freak out.' Nicole sighed. Nicole looked directly to Heather's eyes. 'I cannot be a girl all of a sudden for some freakin' guy,' she said. 'What if Andrea saw me in girl's clothes? I'm dead!'  
  
'Well…that guy expects to meet you…'  
  
'Heather…I need a huge favor from you,' said Nicole, eyeing Heather's long, blond locks…  
  
*  
  
'I cannot believe there is a girl involved,' Sendoh was saying on their way home.  
  
Actually, Sendoh's job was to be Rukawa's private assistant. The company found out Rukawa had certain unnecessary accidents on his way to and from work, so they suggested Sendoh drive the sleepyhead home. This time they were aboard Sendoh's 2000 Mazda MX-Miata. The other day they were on a Porsche 911. [that was one of the privileges Sendoh got from being Rukawa's assistant---latest models of the hottest cars].  
  
That meant the company had quite a large interest in Rukawa that they were willing to spend loads to get him on the job. One of the most professional critiques, the company had claimed.  
  
'All the time I thought the only girls you knew were those who yelled in the stands when we were high schoolers. If you get what I mean…the most decent I have met that you know is Haruko-chan…tsk…tsk…tsk…'  
  
There was no reply.  
  
'If I knew you better, you ignored practically all the girls long ago!' Sendoh went on. 'And now you are going to London to meet one? Or is it hitting two birds with one stone? Business or girls…business or girls…tough choice..'  
  
Still no reply.  
  
'Rukawa-chan?' Sendoh prompted. 'Rukawa-chan!'  
  
Sendoh *sweatdrop*  
  
Rukawa's face was slumped on the car's dashboard as he slept soundly. Sendoh could imagine a bubble rising up and down Rukawa's mouth.  
  
Then there was the drooling part.  
  
'Ugh! Yuck! Rukawa-chan!' Sendoh cried out, pulling his car to the curb. 'Damn Rukawa-chan! Your saliva is all over my dashboard! RUKAWA-CHAN!'  
  
*  
  
The next day, Rukawa spent most of his time packing things for the trip. It was a miracle he didn't sleep through the packing part. In fact, there was this feeling of queasiness circling inside his stomach, that he had to run to the comfort room three times.  
  
Finally he stuffed the last of his things into his suitcase, his pair of Air Jordan rubber shoes, a new pair [he kept his high school shoes in a drawer with all his medals in it].  
  
Sighing, he wiped his brow with his arm and fell onto his bed.  
  
And even before he touched the mattresses, he was already fast asleep.  
  
*  
  
'I cannot believe you talked me into this,' Heather hissed, looking at herself in the mirror. She could barely believe her new look, which didn't change at all her appearance but annoyed her the same.  
  
A new pair of gray contact lenses.  
  
'Well you are already there so don't complain,' said Nicole, resting her back on the sink as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.  
  
'You are Nicole Stuart. You are Nicole Stuart,' Heather chanted tonelessly in front of the mirror to herself. 'Nick, I am not you,' she said in frustration, glaring at Nicole.  
  
Lifting her brows, Nicole just shrugged. 'You already agreed. There is no backing out.'  
  
'Darn, I still can't believe you talked me into this Nick,' Heather grumbled.  
  
'You had better believe it. They'd be arriving tomorrow,' Nicole reminded Heather. 'I can't face Kaede like this, nor can I face Andrea the other way around! Besides, it's only for a week, you can manage…'  
  
'And if the others catch us calling each other by each other's names?' Heather asked. 'This will eventually land us to a heap of trouble Nicky! And he'll find out soon enough I am me and you are you. This is pointless.'  
  
'Oh no it's not,' Nicole said. 'I'm telling you, this is foolproof.' [imagine her with that glint in her eye identical to Sakuragi's when calling himself 'tensai' hihihih] 


	4. Switch 2

Chapter 3 – Switch 2  
  
'Rukawa-chan?'  
  
Sendoh's voice remained merely an echo in Rukawa's messy room.  
  
'Rukawa-chan?' Blinking cautiously, Sendoh tapped Rukawa's shoulder with the tip of his index finger. [Then shrinking, chibi-Sendoh moves tip-toe to the other corner of the room, and waits for an explosive reaction.]  
  
No movement. Just the constant snore coming out of his mouth. And the drooling part of course. Sendoh was just thankful Rukawa wasn't on his car this time.  
  
'Rukawa-chan…'  
  
Sendoh had quite bad experiences with Rukawa, especially during the event of disturbing him from his precious sleep. On their first meeting after four years [which was in their current office room when Sendoh moved in], Rukawa almost threw Sendoh out of the window.  
  
He couldn't of course. Sendoh was a lot more careful that Rukawa's past teachers. And was three centimeters taller than Rukawa [if that counted…].  
  
Finally, Rukawa woke to the world of the living. First blinking at the bright sunlight…measuring up his surroundings [probably thinking 'where am I?'] then sitting up…head turning to Sendoh with that sleepyhead stare.  
  
'You might want to clean yourself up Rukawa-chan,' Sendoh told him. 'We're leaving first thing in the morning. The boss by the way told me to sleep here for the night.'  
  
'Nani?' Rukawa asked, scowling. The weird part was, Rukawa never seemed to resent the fact Sendoh was his assistant. He had agreed to almost all the company's plans of putting them together. Except maybe that part where Sendoh would be invading Rukawa's private life by going with him to London.  
  
'Just in case you are wondering it's your dad who let me in,' Sendoh explained, dropping his baggage onto the floor and surveying the room for a place to settle in for the night.  
  
'Fine,' Rukawa grumbled, motioning to the couch.  
  
'The plane leaves at 8 am,' Sendoh said. 'You better rest. I'll wake you up just in case.'  
  
*Since when was Sendoh my mother?* Rukawa asked himself, looking at Sendoh quizzically. Ignoring him, Rukawa went back to sleep.  
  
*  
  
* * *  
  
London still looked the same. Same snow, same houses, same people…except they were a little older…  
  
Rukawa noticed a girl sitting on the front porch of what used to be his old apartment when he was still living there. If he can recall it right, his parent had decided to take a winter vacation at London when he was about 8 or 9. He met this blond girl, and they became fast friends. For a month, they hung out together, just the two of them, and played together. Rukawa could still remember him throwing snowballs at her basketball-style.  
  
And here she was, looking at someone else who was sleeping on the stairs of the apartment.  
  
Then Rukawa realized it was himself sleeping there.  
  
The girl tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't budge.  
  
'Kaede? Kaede?'  
  
Then to his horrification he whacked the girl straight on her face because she disrupted his sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
*  
  
Rukawa blinked awake, rubbing his eyes off his sleep. 'What the…' The nightmare lingered in his thoughts. His face paled, his blood flowed cold, his throat ran dry…  
  
The last thing he wanted to do was wham Nicole off her face.  
  
Suddenly he felt irritated of his own narcolepticness…which he had never felt before.  
  
Nicole unexpectedly felt as if she was the only girl he ever cared for.  
  
*Cared for? Who am I kidding?* he mused to himself. He glanced at his clock. It read 6 am. At least the nightmare had its advantages. He woke up on time.  
  
*  
  
'Sendoh-chan,' Rukawa began, pensively.  
  
'Yeah?'  
  
They were already aboard their flight. It was past 8 am and the nimble sunshine streamed over from the windows of the plane. Wisps of clouds floated amid their plane and snowflakes speckled the glass panes.  
  
'What do you think of hitting a girl?' asked Rukawa hesitantly. He did not know why the heck he even cared, much less ask, and of all people, Sendoh.  
  
'I am already getting weirded by you lately Rukawa-chan,' Sendoh told him, his forehead creasing. He squinted at Rukawa and looked at him thoughtfully. 'For some strange reason you are not asleep,' he noticed. 'And asking me about girls.'  
  
'Just answer my question,' Rukawa mumbled.  
  
Sendoh sighed then shrugged. 'Well it's brute basically,' he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. 'But knowing you, it isn't. You make quite an exception to the brutality of the world. You have a very acceptable excuse for being so.' It was clear he was referring to Rukawa's narcolepticness.  
  
'I see,' Rukawa said incoherently. 'Sendoh-chan, you won't mind me asking a favor from you now would you?' There was pure uncertainty in his tone.  
  
Maybe Rukawa was reaching the normal adolescence at a late stage. Maybe he was a late bloomer. Maybe it was time for him to accept girls as legible species of the planet made to love---or care about at least. Maybe Mother Nature made a miracle happen. 'Huh?'  
  
Something bizarre was going on. Obviously… 


	5. Airport Arrival

Arigatou gozaimasu minna-san! I love your reviews, just gotta love 'em! I have to admit one thing, I just luv 'em reviews… [swoons]  
  
Btw to hoshi-chan, well since Rukawa's dad was a wealthy business man, he cant afford not to know English so…he taught his son how…[squints for details] hmm…well Kaede wasn't that bad a student…he actually learned how to [taps her chin]…you'd know later on why he strived to learn [cackles] bwahahaha  
  
***  
  
Chapter 4 – Airport Arrival  
  
'No way Rukawa-chan…you would not make me do that,' Sendoh complained, holding up his hands in surrender. 'Look I know I am your assistant and everything,' he said adding under his breath 'which I never should've been if it weren't for those cars…' then continued, 'but I am not your slave! Besides I am not going to let you taint my beautiful name for some girl…I mean since when did you actually know girls exist in this planet?'  
  
Rukawa blinked. He pasted that usual expression on his face---a cross between indifferent and dumb, if Sendoh said so himself. 'Do-aho,' Rukawa mumbled to himself. *sweatdrop…*  
  
'Please fasten your seatbelts, we will be landing in 5 minutes, thank you,' a voice from the intercom boomed.  
  
'Besides I only came here to accompany you and make sure you don't sleep on the job,' Sendoh cleared out, ignoring the announcement.  
  
'This is meant to be a vacation,' Rukawa told him.  
  
'Nandato?' Sendoh cried out, gaping at Rukawa. 'All this time I thought this is a business trip!' Losing calm was rare for Sendoh. Maybe the world was about to end…  
  
'Seikei promised me this vacation,' said Rukawa. 'The company lied to you,' he told Sendoh in a matter-of-fact tone.  
  
'Then that has to be a blessing in disguise!' Sendoh's eyes filled with mirth [as always so it was virtually impossible to tell which time he actually was glad something happened]. 'That means I don't really need to follow your orders anymore because we're not on business!' He practically jumped from his seat as the plane halted suddenly. On consequence he hit his head the chair in front of him, drawing tons of attention from the nearby passengers. 'Oof!'  
  
'Baka yarou,' came Rukawa's flat voice in the background.  
  
'Sumimasen minna-san!' Sendoh exclaimed, bowing sheepishly. The passengers only gave him a 'huh?' look, obviously not understanding Japanese. They arched their brows and scowled at Sendoh. *sweatdrops*  
  
Sendoh's face flushed.  
  
'I mean sorry, sorry!' he repeated over and over again.  
  
'Baka yarou,' muttered Rukawa. 'In case you need to know, your hair is flat on the center.'  
  
Sendoh's head not looked like the letter 'T'. Too much gel that it stiffened…  
  
Before Rukawa knew it, Sendoh was already washing his hair in the plane washroom.  
  
*  
  
'Just look for a Japanese guy with a weird smile,' Nicole said, craning her neck to see those who were going out the doorways of the airport. She carried placard with the name Kaede scrawled like chicken-writing on it.  
  
'As far as I am concerned all Japanese people carry weird smiles,' Heather muttered indignantly to herself. 'And they all carry the same weirdest teeny tiny eyes, it surprises me they can even see where they are going…and the same threadlike black hair…it surprises me they can distinguish each other from the rest when they all look the same…not to mention their yellow skins…'  
  
'You were saying?' Nicole prompted, hearing Heather hiss to herself like someone crazy from the state asylum had just broken out.  
  
'Nothing!' Heather said, plastering an innocent smile on her ace. 'I was saying those chinky-eyed people are just cute! Like koalas!'  
  
Nicole rolled her eyes, they might as well roll out of her sockets. 'I believe the bears they have in Asia are pandas and not koalas…'  
  
'Yeah, they're both bears, what difference would it make?' Heather said, grinning like a lunatic. 'Except the other look like oversized Dalmatians with big bellies and the other look like monkeys with oversized ears! And I wonder why people think they are cute!' She flailed her arms in the air dramatically to stress her point. 'They're the monsters of the planet!'  
  
*sweatdrop*  
  
'And your point is?' Nicole was getting frustrated with her friend, not to mention mortified. People were glancing their way wearing odd faces. 'Look Heath, I know you are anxious to meet them like I am---'  
  
'No I am not anxious to meet them,' Heather interrupted. 'I mean look at me! My eyes might as well be gone! Gray eyes? My eyes look as if you just drew two grayish circles inside to make for pupils!'  
  
'Don't you dare insult my eyes,' Nicole warned. 'I look like there's a miniature swimming pool floating in my eyes with these superficial blue contacts. You're not the only one having a hard time staring at the mirror.'  
  
'Can we just stop this nonsense. Nick, I think they're here.' Heather said quietly all of a sudden, her eyes focused on two Japanese guys walking their way. 'I stand corrected. Nicky my lad, I think I am falling in love…don't worry about a thing, I am Nicole Stuart,' she told Nicole, approaching the two guys, her hand outstretched as her face broke to a huge grin.  
  
*  
  
Rukawa was about to stretch his hand to introduce himself as Rukawa Kaede, since Sendoh refused the switch, when Sendoh himself stepped forward to take the girl's extended hand. 'Rukawa Kaede,' he said. [by the way, his hair was already down, just imagine Sendoh with Mitsui's hair when he was still a punk…] 'Nicore Stuartu?' he asked, with a strong Japanese accent. [uh readers, this is how they speak right? I need help on this…thanks ^^]  
  
The blond girl giggled. 'Yes, it's been a long time,' she said, smiling widely. Rukawa imagined her lips reaching her ears.  
  
Rukawa felt a sudden rush of irritation surge through him. Nicole was pretty, in fact, that Sendoh just grabbed the opportunity like he was Gori handed a banana. He had never imagined Nicole to grow up like a supermodel. 'Sendoh Akira,' Sendoh added wryly, motioning toward Rukawa.  
  
He forced a smile, but he knew from experience forcing smiles was useless. He just nodded stupidly there, not even bothering offer a hand. Sendoh was certainly having the time of his life.  
  
'Oh and by the way this is my friend, Heather Davidson,' Nicole added, gesturing at the other blond girl---guy? who stood behind her. The unknown specie smiled sheepishly without teeth, just a stretch of her---his thin lips, which looked quaintly a cross between a smile and a scowl. 'She's a guy…a girl…a…'  
  
'Guy at heart,' Heather said, nodding as she held out her hand and shook both Sendoh's and Rukawa's. There was something familiar as she shook Rukawa's hand, he felt it right away. He just didn't know what was.  
  
Their eyes locked for a split second before he tore it off and darted it toward his bags.  
  
'Where will you stay during your visit?' Nicole asked, still wearing that sweet smile.  
  
'A hoter,' Sendoh replied. 'So…we wirr findu a cab now…' he said, as if he was in a state of confusion. He kept looking around like a little lost pup, not knowing what to do. Rukawa reckoned Sendoh was too startled to find a stunning girl in front of him that his mind ran off somewhere. It sure would be hard to find his brain lost in London.  
  
'Oh and we'll be glad to bring you to your hotel room,' said Nicole.  
  
'Thank you for ther offer,' Sendoh said, grinning.  
  
'I had no idea you could speak English well,' Heather noticed.  
  
Sendoh smiled smoothly. 'Werr I studied hard,' he replied.  
  
*How come I don't know that?* Rukawa thought rolling his eyes. 'Do-aho…' 


	6. Red Faces

I sorta got tired of figuring out how Japanese speak English so I wish you'd bear with imagining how they do…arigatou ^^ btw, you might get a little confuzzled on the characters…read carefully ^.^ juz in case u see mistakes on how they call them, feel free to tell me ^.^  
  
Per scene is written on a certain character's point of view, if that would help. ^.^  
  
  
  
Chapter 5 – Red faces  
  
'I had no idea he finally learned how to smile,' Nicole told Heather as they drove home from Barkston Gardens after dropping Kaede and Akira there. 'And I had no idea he'd bring with him someone who looks as zomboid as Akira.'  
  
'He didn't know how to smile?' Heather echoed, startled. 'Why he's got the most dazzling smile on earth! Actually I had no idea how cute those guys would look! Their bodies are like those Greek gods…perfect…lean…oh Nick! You are so lucky to know someone like Kaede!' She shook her head, babbling nonstop. 'Why you could get them to star in our magazine! At least to make up for the loss of our Cameron Diaz pics…I'm sure they'd do a pretty good job and we don't have to pay them $50,000…Nick! They're angels in disguise!'  
  
Nicole sighed, exasperated with Heather's incessant talk about how gorgeous her friend looked. Actually Nicole was startled too to find Kaede grow up like that. 'I'm surprised they know how to read our alphabet,' she said instead.  
  
'And he speaks English! Nicky! He's great! Just awesome…'  
  
'Could you stop swooning already?' Nicole snapped. 'I might as well drive home a monkey.'  
  
'Well I am not a monkey…'  
  
'You catch on fast,' Nicole told her.  
  
'Where will we bring them tomorrow by the way?' Heather asked.  
  
'Anywhere,' answered Nicole.  
  
*  
  
'No wonder you were so distressed,' Sendoh told Rukawa in Japanese, flopping on the bed. 'About her I mean, she's one great and lovely girl. I would never dream of hitting her any day.' Then he sat up, as if realizing something. 'Wait, I just figured, how come she doesn't know how you look like? Haven't you sent each other pictures?'  
  
'Iie,' replied Rukawa in a monotone. He laid his back on his own four- poster bed.  
  
'I see…you managed all these years not seeing each other? No wonder…this is you we are talking about not some other normal person,' Sendoh said reproachfully. 'Oh well, now I know why you have some nerve pull on a trick like that.'  
  
Rukawa didn't reply.  
  
Well Sendoh wasn't surprised. Rukawa was fast asleep on the bed, not caring about the world. Sendoh could not even remember Rukawa commenting about how pretty Nicole had grown. What more could Sendoh expect. Maybe Rukawa just took his time to grow up.  
  
*  
  
'Well sometimes not sending each other pictures has its perks,' Nicole said, swerving the car recklessly to the left fork of the road.  
  
'Well I don't think you personally want to send him yours,' Heather commented.  
  
'That's true,' Nicole admitted, stopping the car in front of a bungalow- style brick house. Heather opened the door and stepped out.  
  
'Thanks for the ride,' she said.  
  
'Anytime. See you tomorrow, I'll call you where we'd meet,' Nicole said, waving. With one last look at her friend, she drove away.  
  
*  
  
'This is one of the most famous coffee shops in town,' Nicole was saying as entered the door opened for her by Sendoh. She smiled thankfully at him and went on to find a table for four.  
  
'I see,' Sendoh said, looking around. It wasn't bad; in fact it was great. Brick walls, dim lights from oil-lamps inside, sunshine pouring from the windows, warm fireplace burning in the middle wall, it was every inch cozy. Even Rukawa himself was impressed.  
  
It was the day after they met in the airport and Nicole and Heather were touring them around town. They agreed later on watching a movie later on.  
  
It seemed as if Rukawa and Sendoh took their switch so seriously, that they decided to swap hairstyles while in London. So just imagine Rukawa with his hair up, and Sendoh with his hair down.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
'What happened to your hair?' chibi-Nicole had asked Rukawa when she saw him, pointing at his hair. Heather was equally flabbergasted. Sendoh could swear it was all they could do to keep from fainting.  
  
Chibi-Rukawa, the apathetic guy he was, shrugged.  
  
*I knew that hair would never fit Rukawa any day* chibi-Sendoh mused to himself, laughing hard, clutching his stomach from bursting with glee.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Sendoh pulled a seat for Nicole, while Rukawa forcibly pulled one for Heather. Sendoh laughed to himself. Time for Rukawa the gentleman in action. 'So what would you want?' Nicole asked, glancing at the menu.  
  
'Regular coffee,' Sendoh answered. 'Akira-chan what do you want?'  
  
Rukawa shrugged. Everyone knew even coffee would not wake him up, so technically when he drank coffee it was for refreshment purposes only. 'Iced tea,' he said.  
  
'I'll order for us,' volunteered Nicole, smiling warmly. She stood up, followed by Sendoh.  
  
'I'll help.' And Sendoh left Rukawa and Heather in the table.  
  
'I think I might need to go to the little girl's room,' Heather told Rukawa awkwardly, leaving him alone in the table.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
*  
  
Cautiously, Nicole peered into the girl's comfort room, first sticking her head into the small opening she made for the door, then running her eyes around the place. Since she looked like a guy, she would not at all, dream of girls freaking out in the comfort room every time she entered.  
  
She peeked in…slowly…cautiously…oh so cautiously…  
  
Besides it was more comfortable in the girl's room than the boy's. If that wasn't apparent enough…genetically speaking Nicole was still a girl and would have a lot happier time NOT looking at guys'…ehem…  
  
The little girl's room startled her. It has to be the day of emptying the female customers' stomachs! The line was terribly long, Nicole just had to breath out in relief as she shut the door immediately.  
  
'Excuse me, but I do not tolerate impudence in this coffee shop,' a voice behind her said. The shop's FEMALE manager.  
  
Nicole turned beet red, as she held up her palms in defeat. 'Sorry…I thought it was the little boy's room…' *sweatdrop*  
  
The manager arched a brow and looked at Nicole from head to toe, then vice versa. 'Well…if you would agree on…hmmm …eating dinner with me tonight, then everything would be settled…' she said with that evil glint in her eye.  
  
'Are you crazy?' Nicole almost shrieked. 'I wasn't lying when I said I thought. Do I look like an oversized maniac to you?' She looked around for an argument and thank heavens she found it. 'Besides, your signs are broken,' she said pointing to the broken signs on the comfort room doors.  
  
The manager let out a huge 'hmph' and entered the female comfort room.  
  
Nicole sighed. 'This has to be harder than I thought!'  
  
*  
  
Rukawa was getting sick of Nicole and Sendoh chatting like they were the only creatures in the planet that he just had to get away. It was a miracle he wasn't even sleeping…  
  
''Scuse me,' he mumbled as he stood up.  
  
Sighing, he made his way towards the comfort room, his eyelids slowly drooping to kingdom come.  
  
Then he knocked over some guy about to exit the male comfort room door. He jerked awake to look at what he hit. His eyes landed on a red face, he thought he hit a clown with extra-smudged lipstick.  
  
*sweatdrop*  
  
He strained his eyes and the focus became clearer. Well what do you know…it was Heather… 


	7. Coffee Shop Fiasco

Chapter 6 – Coffee Shop Fiasco  
  
Heather hurried to the female washroom, her face burning with humiliation. Akira saw her in the MALE washroom. AKIRA of all people. He KNEW she was a girl, no matter how boyish she looked. And he was surprised [chibi-Rukawa blinking, confused, and scratching his head]. What more can she expect.  
  
Without lingering on his face any longer, she dashed for the female washroom. She prayed Akira thought she mistook the male's for the female's. Her brain wasn't at all functioning properly. She had never felt so red- handed.  
  
'This is damn hard,' she mumbled, resting her back on the wall adjacent to the door. She was panting hard.  
  
'AAAAHH! PERVERT!!!'  
  
So the girls in the female comfort room were screaming.  
  
*  
  
'What's that all about?' Kaede asked Heather, looking at the direction of the comfort room.  
  
*sweatdrop* Heather held up her hands and waved them awkwardly in the air. 'Nothing, nothing, probably they found a cat in the comfort room!' she explained clumsily. *Nicole made a mistake AGAIN…gahh…I'm sure those pesky females thought she was a guy* she thought, sighing.  
  
*  
  
Going to the comfort room had never been this hard for Nicole. Looking as if she just fought in WWII, she slumped to her chair and sighed, exhausted.  
  
'Are you okay?' Kaede asked her, concerned.  
  
*Well I am more concerned with what Akira thinks of me now* she replied mentally. She nodded to Kaede sheepishly. He was smiling at her now…and boy he had the most fabulous smile.  
  
Little by little… she turned her head to Akira's direction, expecting so see a blush…or an uncomfortable grin.  
  
But Akira was asleep.  
  
*  
  
Sendoh realized he was wrong.  
  
Rukawa had just finished his iced tea after gobbling down three French toasts on the table and was currently dozing off on the table. The girls were looking at him as if he was some alien from outer space who accidentally popped all the Earth's sleeping pills into his mouth. And people who were passing by had their faces red, as if they were the ones mortified for the poor handsome but bizarre Japanese boy who mistook the table for his bed.  
  
'Akira…Akira?' Sendoh felt utterly strange calling Rukawa by his own name.  
  
Sendoh was extremely wrong. Rukawa DID NOT care females exist. All he cared about was himself, and his reputation. And he asked Sendoh to switch with him because he did not want to taint his beautiful name while in London. Because he did not want Nicole to think her penpal from Japan was a narcoleptic wacko. Because he was selfish!  
  
That didn't make any sense at all…Rukawa NEVER cared if people saw him sleeping in public places. Why would he suddenly undergo an overnight change when he was meeting a girl in London?  
  
'Wait…step back,' Sendoh said. He motioned the girls away as he took a step back himself to wake Rukawa up. 'Akira? Akira?' he prompted cautiously, tapping Rukawa on his back with his pointer finger. A bomb was about to explode.  
  
Well thanks to Ms. Manager, who was fuming like she was a steam-powered train, she woke Rukawa up, all mad. 'Listen young man! I will not tolerate impudence on my coffee shop!' she yelled, storming toward Rukawa's direction.  
  
'Uh oh…' Sendoh gulped. [chibi-Sendoh faced the girls with a shrug.]  
  
Rukawa jerked awake, Sendoh and the girls just had to gasp with its suddenness. He scratched his head vigorously, staring sleepily at everyone's eyes focused on him. He had obviously caused a commotion among the customers of the shop. Then he slumped back to the table and snored.  
  
'This coffee shop is not made to be a sleeping place for you sleepyhead!' she shouted at him darkly. 'Get up you rude bastard! Get up I say! I am this shop's manager and if you don't get up I'm going to call the police!'  
  
Sendoh could imagine the veins popping out of her temples. He swallowed an invisible lump in his throat, anticipating the worst. The girls were dumbstruck, eyes wide as saucers as they stared at the fuss.  
  
Suddenly Rukawa got up. He towered forebodingly over the shocked Ms. Manager. 'I don't give a damn who you are,' he began, narrowing his biologically narrowed eyes. 'I wont forgive anyone who disturbs my sleep.'  
  
[I do wonder how he could narrow them still…tsk..tsk..tsk..]  
  
'WHAT WAS THAT?' Ms. Manager had lost all self-control. Some customers of the shop had already fled.  
  
Heather and Nicole fainted.  
  
The rest…just imagine.  
  
*  
  
Nothing that extreme had happened. Sendoh managed to drag Rukawa out the coffee shop before he could do further damage to Ms. Manager, and the shop itself. What Rukawa did was pretty mild though; dunk that Ms. Manger's face into the basket of French toasts.  
  
Well mild compared to what he did with his former teachers, give them a fracture or two…or just a black eye if they were lucky.  
  
The three were panting as they reached the next block, save Rukawa who was stretching and yawning indifferently having woken up naturally from his precious sleep. At least he didn't throw a traumatizing fit this time.  
  
He looked at his company and blinked, plastering that expression on his face, which Sendoh thought was a cross between indifferent and dumb.  
  
'Good morning Akira…' Heather began.  
  
Rukawa nodded, squinting up on the snow gently falling on afternoon London.  
  
'I guess we can go now to the movie house,' Sendoh said. 'Peacefully,' he quickly added, looking at Rukawa.  
  
'At least it's a safe place to sleep there,' Nicole remarked. 'Did you get enough sleep last night Akira? I'm sure you were just adjusting to London, it will soon pass.'  
  
Nicole absolutely did not know anything about Rukawa. Sendoh was surprised he considered the two of them friends. 


	8. Walking Home

Chapter 7 – Walking home  
  
They reached the cinema safely somehow after the trip to the coffee shop. Nicole was pretty sure they would not be seen along that street corner for while. She and Heather might as well look for another place to drink coffee.  
  
Starbucks would do just fine. Frappucinos were a fad anyway.  
  
Nicole was still adjusting to Kaede's attitude. As far as she was concerned, Akira was more Kaede than Kaede himself. Well Nicole didn't remember the Kaede she knew sleeping on the streets, but one thing she did remember about Kaede, was he barely knew how to smile.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
'How come your eyes are always narrowed?' the kid Nicole asked Kaede, peering into his small eyes. She placed her face right in front of his and blinked, puzzled.  
  
He gave her a confused look, pulling his head back and darting his eyes away from her gray ones. He apparently did not understand.  
  
'I mean, your eyes, you always look mad,' rephrased Nicole.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
'How come I don't see you smile?' she dug in deeper.  
  
He shrugged again. 'Me look odd…' Kaede stretched his lips to a smile, forcibly showing his teeth. His eyes however showed no hint of mirth, just that stupid glare. His face broke to a scowl.  
  
Nicole burst out laughing. 'I'll teach you how. Think of a funny thing and laugh…in case you don't know it comes out naturally…'  
  
Kaede stayed silent for a while and erupted, 'Ha…ha…ha…ha..ha..ha.hahaha…hahaha…' his hahas trailed off.  
  
'You need better lessons…' Nicole said, biting her lip.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
*He looked so weird then* Nicole mused to herself, absentmindedly handing the ticket to the ticket-person at the entrance to the movies. She followed the three enter the dark theater.  
  
*At least at the end of his one month vacation I managed to make him smile and laugh…well his smile looked genuine and cute…but his laugh…whatever* recalled Nicole as she took her seat. The kid Kaede looked so adorable in her memory. His little eyes dancing and his small teeth all white and sparkling when she accompanied him to the airport when they were about to leave. That was the first and last smile she saw of him. She could tell even his parents were surprised to see him smile.  
  
[errr…hehe ^^ I think I'm destroying slowly Rukawa's character with that…gah! =p gomen ne…^^ somehow I can't imagine what I wrote…]  
  
And suddenly after twelve years, he grinned like movie stars straight out of the TV screen.  
  
Sighing, she stared at the screen inattentively. Kaede and Heather were chatting quietly, having the time of their lives. Akira was…well…sleeping. Nicole could get used to that.  
  
A few more minutes trailed on.  
  
'Oh I love you!' the girl in the screen gushed to the boy as they hugged each other and smooched.  
  
Nicole winced. 'Sappy,' she muttered 'Ugh!' She turned to Kaede and Heather. 'Sappier…' Feeling sick she stood out and made for the exit.  
  
No one noticed.  
  
*  
  
The coffee Nicole ordered from the theater's store was already cold after an hour, but Nicole still had no intentions of going back. She sat there quietly, swinging her legs absently under the stool she sat on.  
  
She was positive the guard was already giving her those looks. 'What is she doing there? Strange kid…' he must be thinking.  
  
Well Nicole was so fed up that she decided to leave. Then she caught glimpse of Akira exiting the theater's doors, stretching and yawning. He gave her that 'huh?' look, his eyes all drowsy and his stance all sluggish.  
  
'Akira…!' Nicole called, waiting for him to approach her.  
  
He did wordlessly.  
  
'Why aren't you inside?' Nicole asked.  
  
'That boy went in the cinema to sleep?' That probably what was meant by the stare the clerk of the theater's store was giving them.  
  
Akira shrugged. 'Wanna get out here…' he mumbled incoherently.  
  
'You better come with me,' she said, dumping her half-filled coffee cup into the trashcan. 'Those two are making me sick.'  
  
*  
  
The next thing Rukawa knew, he was walking with Heather to…who-knows-where. He was still half asleep when he agreed to whatever she suggested he didn't catch.  
  
Sendoh and Nicole were too busy with themselves in the movie house to even care he left.  
  
He had no idea what to tell her. If he remembered it right, they were walking for half an hour speechlessly.  
  
'How come I never saw you smile?' she asked suddenly, breaking the silence. That question seemed awfully familiar to Rukawa. Well so people always asked him that, but its relevance now was different.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 1 while floating on Rukawa's shoulder: Hey dumbbell is that all you can do? Shrug?]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 2 also floating on Rukawa's shoulder: Nani?]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 1: Talk to her! Baka yarou! This is LONDON for crying out loud!]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 2: She's not Nicole…]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 1: Be polite at least!]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 2: Was I ever? Girls don't mean anything to me…]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 1: Do-aho…*kicks chibi-Rukawa 2*]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 2: *retaliates*]  
  
[The two chibi-Rukawas fight on Rukawa's shoulder as the real chibi-Rukawa brushes them off to kingdom come]  
  
'You don't really talk do you?' she asked.  
  
'Iie…' he answered.  
  
'I see. Well that figures…you really don't talk a lot.'  
  
Then Rukawa jerked conscious suddenly. She understood that? 'You know Japanese?' he asked.  
  
Suddenly, a car came speeding by them, splattering melted snow on their clothes. 


	9. Busted?

Chapter 9 – Busted?  
  
Heather motioned to the large brick house, which sat snow-covered on the side of the street. A small snowman decorated its front yard and Christmas lights glittered on its roof, door and windows.  
  
Rukawa's eyes darted to the large building standing in front of the house.  
  
'This is my neighborhood,' he muttered to himself, reminiscing the old days.  
  
'Well here we are,' Heather said, grinning. 'This is our house.'  
  
'Your house there?' asked Rukawa, pointing to the house. 'Nicole lives there…'  
  
For a while Heather seemed startled. 'Huh? Ah…well…' she stammered [chibi- Nicole holding up a peace sign ^^] 'I…I'm staying here for the week!' she exclaimed. She then furrowed her brows. 'Wait…how did you know?'  
  
Rukawa blinked.  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 1: DO-AHO! *kicks chibi-Rukawa 2 on the butt*]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 2: Baka yarou! *hits back* It just popped out of my mouth!]  
  
[chibi-Rukawa 1: Haiyaku! Make an excuse!]  
  
'Anou…' Rukawa began, darting his small fox-eyes in all directions. 'Anou…'  
  
Heather was eyeing him suspiciously. 'What?'  
  
'Anou…the sign…the letter box,' Rukawa faltered, pointing toward the mailbox with the name "Stuart" engraved on it. 'I saw it…I saw… it'  
  
Heather nodded, still watching him dubiously. Well after a while, she bought it when Rukawa showed no hint of…anything. 'Fine, let's go in find you some clothes,' she said. 'And I need to dress up too….bastard driver…I'm soaked!'  
  
*  
  
*That is bizarre…* Nicole thought to herself, leading Akira up to her room. *And I thought I almost got caught! What if Kaede found out? Well…darn!*  
  
She swung the door open to her room. A dog suddenly leapt toward her, licking her on the face and knocking her down onto the floor. It wagged its tail happily, not even bothering take a look at Akira. It was a white Japanese Spitz. 'Ugh! Shiro…get off me!' Nicole cried out, picking herself from the floor.  
  
Shiro obeyed, and stood beside Nicole. Finally it noticed Akira, and growled fiercely.  
  
'Pretty late for that Shiro,' said Nicole, ushering the dog away. 'Shoo! Shoo!'  
  
However, the dog had other plans. It circled Akira's feet and…pissed on his pants.  
  
'K'so…' muttered Akira, almost into kicking the dog off the window.  
  
'He likes you,' said Nicole, eyeing the dog sternly. 'He does that to people he likes…like an initiation. I'm telling you now, he does worse to those he doesn't like.'  
  
Akira scowled at his pants, then forced himself to calm down. 'The name is Japanese,' Akira noticed, looking at the dog, which was merrily trotting away.  
  
'Nicole, what can I say,' mumbled Nicole, gesturing to a chair. 'Wait there. I'd get you something to wear. And take off your shirt too. Go wrap yourself a blanket, you're going to get yourself a cold. Besides, you stink.'  
  
He did what she said and settled upon the chair with a blanket around himself. 'This Nicole's room,' Akira said suddenly just as Nicole was about to open her closet.  
  
'How did you know that?' she asked, spinning around, bewildered. *First he is Kaede's non-smiling friend, then he was a sleepaholic turned to Mr. Atomic Bomb when disturbed, then now he is the master of knowing everything? What is this person?* she fumed to herself.  
  
He blinked at her stupidly then looked around. 'Anou…anou…' he was stuttering like a wild insane-asylum inmate. He pointed at the framed highschool diploma of Nicole. 'There…' he replied awkwardly, gesturing at the picture. 'Why we here?'  
  
Now it was Nicole's turn to look for an excuse. 'Uh…we share the same room…' she answered, going back to rummaging through her closet for clothes. 'Darn he has so many questions…what is he? Oprah turned Japanese?' she hissed.  
  
'You sleep together?' he questioned. When Nicole spun around, he was giving her THAT look.  
  
[chibi-Rukawa with that devious what-mischief-are-you-doing look---hmm I think this would suit Hanamichi more…what do you think? Scratch it or leave it?]  
  
*Who knew Mr. Ice knew how to think about the strangest things in the world like homosexuality?* she mused to herself. 'No, no, Akira…uhm…I sleep on the floor…on a mat…' explained Nicole wearily. She began throwing out the mess in her closet, and without her knowing it, accidentally hitting Akira.  
  
When she turned around, holding up victoriously a pair of jeans and a long- sleeved shirt, she froze. [imagine Mitsui's look when he sees Hanamichi playing with Anzai-sensei's big belly] One of the feminine personals was in his hand. And he was too…naïve? to even have the grace to put it down.  
  
*  
  
'Where did they go?' Nicole asked Sendoh as they exited the theater. 'Heath! Akira!' she called.  
  
Sendoh shrugged. *Hmm…what if Rukawa whisked that tomboy Heather to a private spot? Hahaha…he must be turning to a real man* he pondered. Deep in him he was grinning wickedly.  
  
Nicole sighed. 'I do not believe this…' she said, her face falling. Rolling her eyes, she looked up at Sendoh and gave him that lost-puppy look. She was just adorable! Sendoh could feel butterflies in his insides. 'What are we going to do now?'  
  
'Ru---aahh…Akira can take care of her,' he replied, smiling broadly.  
  
[will this smile never end…gahhhh…]  
  
'Well…let's take a walk. I want to reminisce the old days. I mean, a week isn't that long right?' she said wistfully. 'My memory is kind of rotten, you sure don't mind telling me our childhood stories now do you?' She clutched his arm and stared steadily into his eyes.  
  
Sendoh wanted to get lost in her gaze. But in the sudden realization of what she suggested, he wanted to get lost. Period. He gulped, wondering how he was going to go about this situation. Rukawa never talked about his and Nicole's life as kids. Laughing sheepishly, he scratched his head. 'My memory is rotten too.'  
  
'Okay. Don't you want to laugh of our childhood days?' she crooned.  
  
'Anou…' he began, choosing the right words. 'Well…why don't we go for a walk? I might remember some in the way.'  
  
*  
  
Heather could not move a muscle. She just stared at him. Rukawa wondered why. Oh, and she was staring at what he was holding too.  
  
'Nick?'  
  
A tall brunette stood on the doorway, gaping at Rukawa and Heather.  
  
*Nick? Who's Nick?* Rukawa asked himself, staring at the girl confusedly.  
  
'A…Andrea…!' Heather blurted out, turning red all of a sudden.  
  
'Who is this guy-with-no-eyes here?' the girl person Andrea asked, still bewildered. 'Nick, what the hell are you doing? What is he doing with your underwear? Why is he half-naked?' This girl from outer space was close to tears. Rukawa had absolutely no idea why.  
  
Then his small eyes darted to the thing in his hand. Startled, he dropped it suddenly, and continued to stare at the girl.  
  
'Is he…oh no…Nick…you did not…' Andrea was already crying.  
  
'A…Andrea…look I can explain!' Heather cried out, chasing after the girl who already dashed away. 


	10. Schemers

Gomen ne Korosu-chan! Eh…well it was my fault. I sorta got the names mixed up in chapter 7…anyway to make it simple if Rukawa and Sendoh are addressed as Kaede and Akira, it would be the girls' point of view, otherwise it would be the guys' point of view. [*falls over* I know this is gonna happen…the last time I wrote a story like this it took them months to finish reading it…gah!]  
  
  
  
Chapter 10 – Schemers  
  
*  
  
*She called me Nick…okay…if Akira was smart he'd figure everything out* Nicole thought madly to herself as she ran after Andrea. She knew exactly what Andrea was thinking. And it wasn't good. At all.  
  
'Andrea wait!' They were already out on the front porch.  
  
Andrea stopped and faced Nicole with tears in her eyes. 'How dare you jerk!'  
  
'He's a friend of my friend…god Andrea stop overreacting! You haven't even heard me yet!' Nicole was getting desperate.  
  
'Then explain! Go!'  
  
'We are both wet…you can see my clothes I'm soaked,' Nicole began carefully.  
  
'What's that got to do with---'  
  
'Hear me out first Andrea. He went over to change okay? Some crazy driver ran over a puddle of water and splashed it on us. His hotel is far from here and he would get sick if he doesn't change soon. And I would too so I thought I'd bring him over. Then the dog pissed on him so he had to take his clothes off…' breathed Nicole. 'That lingerie on his hand…it was an accident…I was throwing stuff out of my closet without looking and…hit him…well I was too flustered because he was asking me too many questions…!' Nicole was flailing her arms in the air frantically as she talked.  
  
'You're babbling,' said Andrea, cracking a smile. 'Sorry Nick…I guess I…well…'  
  
Relieved, Nicole nodded and pulled Andrea close. 'I'm sorry too…' *Okay…Andrea's good…but Akira…goddamn…*  
  
*  
  
Rukawa was startled enough that he actually cared about what was going on despite himself. He followed Andrea and Heather outside the house and…found them in each other's arms. Chibi-Rukawa scratched his head and blinked [which in Sendoh's opinion would be a cross between indifferent and dumb ^^].  
  
Perhaps he was waiting for some sort of introduction to the new character in the miserably twisted story of his life in London. And was waiting for all the answers to the questions like 'Who the hell is this girl?', 'Who the hell is Nick?' and 'What the hell is she doing here?' and if it was proper 'What the hell are you two doing?'.  
  
After a seemingly endless embrace between the two ladies…well the other one was genetically a lady after all…Heather finally realized Rukawa's eyes on them [I mean with eyes like that which could practically burn holes in your skin, who won't…]. 'A…Akira…!' she blurted out, surprised.  
  
One of Rukawa's eyebrows shot up.  
  
'This…this is Andrea…' she began hesitantly. That was pretty obvious enough. Rukawa heard Heather call Andrea's name like more than five times since the latter ran off.  
  
Andrea was grinning idiotically at Rukawa with her face flushed, Rukawa assumed her heart pumped blood only in her face that she stood numbly there. The smile was frozen on her lips, looking terribly automatic. Trust Rukawa to feel irritated. Somehow this girl reminded him of Sakuragi.  
  
Or maybe she irritated him because of something else he could not comprehend at the moment.  
  
'Hi,' finally said Andrea. 'I'm Nick's girlfriend.'  
  
*What the hell is going on?* asked Rukawa to himself. Maybe that was the question which had to be answered first.  
  
*  
  
'So what happened between you and Heather last night?' Sendoh was asking over breakfast.  
  
Rukawa shrugged. 'Nothing much,' he answered.  
  
'I don't think I ever encountered you telling a story 'bout yourself,' Sendoh said, lifting a piece of sushi in his mouth. 'These people don't know sushi when they cook it,' he muttered, looking at the sushi with indignation.  
  
Rukawa continued to wolf down his sushi in silence.  
  
'You could at least answer my question,' pressed Sendoh.  
  
'We got wet,' replied Rukawa.  
  
Sendoh almost choked out on his sushi. 'NANDATO?' Well apparently he was thinking the same way Andrea was last night. Rukawa wondered how people managed to think hentai all the time.  
  
'Some car splashed water on us,' cleared Rukawa out, muttering his reply. 'Then I went over to her place…then a girl went in…Andrea…then she cried…I don't know why…she called Heather Nick…baka yarou…weird people…'  
  
*  
  
'So what did Akira do?' prompted Heather, chewing on the bread.  
  
'Well I had no idea…things were moving so fast…one moment Akira was asking me questions the other Andrea was standing at my doorway,' Nicole said. 'I had to make up some excuse Andrea called me Nick because…I look like Nicolas Cage or something…which apparently isn't true but Akira bought it anyway considering he had the faintest idea who Nicolas Cage is.'  
  
Heather was laughing the hell out of herself. 'And what did Andrea do?'  
  
'Andrea…she played along,' replied Nicole, almost not believing the events herself. 'And until now she thinks I am playing jokes on that poor Akira.'  
  
'This is like SO weird,' commented Heather. 'This switch is going to be a disaster…with ANDREA around.' Heather spoke Andrea's name with despise. Nicole knew how much Heather hated Andrea.  
  
Dismissing the sharp tone in her friend's voice, Nicole diverted the conversation. 'You know they confuse me. Well Akira confuses me the most. Somehow he figured this is my house and my room without seeing the mailbox first and the picture…'  
  
'Hmm…Kaede didn't manage tell me a story about the two of you when you were little,' agreed Heather. 'Do you think…'  
  
*  
  
'Iie,' said Rukawa even before Sendoh finished his sentence.  
  
'It is possible for the two of them to plot the same thing as we did.' Sendoh gulped down water thoughtfully.  
  
'Doushite?'  
  
'Datte…' Sendoh's voice trailed off. 'Do you want to investigate on this or something?'  
  
*  
  
'How are we supposed to do that?' Nicole asked. 'For all we know, while we are snooping in their hotel room they are hanging out on the other room and then they'd crash on us then…poof! The plot's over.'  
  
'I'd ask Kaede about their plans for tomorrow, then we'd make an excuse we can't be with them because we have…hmmm…work to do!' Heather grinned a self- satisfied smile. 'What do you think? Since we won't be with them, the two would most probably go out too…you know sight seeing…like tourists…'  
  
'Heath, technically we ARE their tour guides, they won't be going out without us,' Nicole pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'Heath…'  
  
*  
  
'Look Rukawa-chan, we can tell them the company asked you to…check out on the latest basketball shoes and…it would bore them if they'd come,' Sendoh said confidently. 'And…the task just arrived on your answering machine this morning and you have to go to a business meeting suddenly…'  
  
'Kimi wa,' corrected Rukawa automatically.  
  
'Hai…hai…me. Of course, I am Kaede that time…well this is infallible,' said Sendoh. 'So since we won't be around, they might probably go out shopping or something. Besides, I can't imagine those two sitting their day out in Nicole's house. 


	11. Basketball Mania

Chapter 11 – Basketball Mania  
  
Third day at London, everything was going smoothly for the gang [except maybe for the accident at the coffee shop…and the incident at Nicole's house]. Andrea was part of the gang now. And Heather wasn't very happy about it...Nicole very well knew.  
  
Now Andrea was clinging on Nicole's arm, and was purring like crazy.  
  
'There's a basketball court near the neighborhood,' Heather was saying. The only thing that kept her sane while Andrea was around was Kaede. He was hanging on every word she was saying with that endless smile on his face.  
  
Akira was drowsily staggering along with the group.  
  
True enough a basketball court came into view as they walked along. The sound of the bouncing ball was enough to keep Akira awake, Nicole noticed. He lifted his head toward the direction of the court. There was that glint in his eyes Nicole never noticed before.  
  
'Nick! Heath!' called a voice from the players.  
  
Nicole and Heather stood frozen on the ground. 'Uh-oh,' mumbled Nicole. 'Sounds like trouble…'  
  
Two guys sauntered toward the five of them. Andrea was already smiling flirtatiously. There were still guys left in court. They seemed to notice the fuss and went over to the five as well.  
  
'Sa…Sakuragi…' blurted out Kaede suddenly.  
  
*  
  
---The Japanese people were speaking in Japanese here…---  
  
'Shimatta…' muttered Rukawa, glaring at Sakuragi's direction.  
  
'AAAH! Sendoh! Kitsune!' yelled Sakuragi, pointing deliriously at Sendoh and Rukawa.  
  
'Do-aho,' mumbled Rukawa under his breath.  
  
Sakuragi's red hair grew long and was tied to the nape of his neck. To Rukawa, he looked like a monkey more than ever. 'Wha…what happened to your hair?' Sakuragi asked, laughing himself until tears came out of his eyes. 'Bwahahahaha!' He clutched his stomach as he guffawed.  
  
'Yours is worse, do-aho,' replied Rukawa. '  
  
'Nandato!' Sakuragi was fuming.  
  
'Looks like you haven't changed much Sakuragi,' noticed Sendoh, grinning.  
  
'Hmph!' Sakuragi placed his arms over his chest then gestured to the court. 'I have. I'm going to beat you this time Sen---' But before he could finish his sentence…actually before he could accidentally spill everything about the switch…Sendoh had already dragged him out away from the girls.  
  
'Excuse us,' he told Heather and Nicole with a smile. Rukawa followed the two.  
  
*  
  
'I am Heather,' Nicole was telling the boys she knew, while taking glances at Kaede and Akira and…the Sakuragi person.  
  
'Huh?'  
  
'Seth just play along,' pleaded Heather. 'Call me Nicole okay?'  
  
There was a confused look at Seth's face. The other guys wore the same expressions. 'Huh?'  
  
'We pulled a switch,' explained Nicole hastily.  
  
*  
  
'Why the hell would you do that?' cried out Sakuragi.  
  
'Quiet! Baka!' hissed Sendoh, hitting Sakuragi's head with his fist.  
  
'Do-aho…' commented Rukawa.  
  
Trust Sakuragi to explode. Holding him by the arms was all Sendoh could do before Sakuragi could initiate a skirmish with Rukawa. They haven't changed at all. 'It's Rukawa-chan here…he insisted,' Sendoh said.  
  
'So that's what's behind the hair,' sad Sakuragi thoughtfully. 'Rukawa looks like a porcupine kitsune now…bwahahahha!'  
  
Rukawa's eyes darkened. Sakuragi's face mirrored the kitsune's. Sendoh feared a storm would soon brew over London.  
  
'Yes yes that's what's behind the hair!' exclaimed Sendoh, hoping to break the tension.  
  
*  
  
'But the two of you don't even look alike,' pointed out Seth, frowning. 'What exactly is going on?'  
  
'It's a long story…' mumbled Heather. 'Nicole insisted…I had no other choice.'  
  
'Or is it because Heather here wanted to have some fun with exotic guys?' another guy reckoned. 'Hey, they're not that bad looking.'  
  
'Since when were you gay Alfred?' asked Nicole, rolling her eyes.  
  
Andrea was completely forgotten.  
  
*  
  
'I thought you wanted Japanese women, Sendoh.' Sakuragi glanced over toward the two girls. 'And that other girl person over there…a lesbian…hmmm Rukawa certainly has weird tastes…' He snickered happily, patting Rukawa on the shoulder. 'I understand completely Rukawa. I know your looks are no match for Sakuragi tensai's looks! Hahahaha! No wonder no girl would ever have a crush on you!'  
  
The sky behind Rukawa darkened again.  
  
It seemed the talk between the girls and their friends were over. They sauntered toward the Japanese people, waiting for them to finish.  
  
'By the way, you want to join the game?' offered Sakuragi.  
  
*  
  
Soon enough, Akira and Kaede were playing basketball in the frost-covered court. The players remained undaunted despite the cold.  
  
Andrea was back, with her arms wrapped around Nicole.  
  
The game was hot, even for the weather. Hanamichi [who was already introduced to the girls moments earlier], Akira and Kaede were on one team. Seth, Alfred and John were on the other.  
  
The ball was in Kaede's hands. He wore a smirk as he dribbled it in between his legs, faked to the right and dashed toward Akira who was waiting for the ball just behind the three-point line. Everything happened so fast, that Alfred, Kaede's guard, barely had time to run after Kaede. Before everyone knew it, Akira already had the ball and was aiming for a three- point shot.  
  
Seth seemed to make a pretty good defense as he jumped in mid-air to prevent the shot…or so everyone thought.  
  
Akira expertly faked a pass to Hanamichi to his right, swiveled to the left, dribbled at high speed and made a perfect lay-up shot right before John's eyes. He landed on the floor with a thump, his face carrying a cold, serious expression.  
  
Nicole, Heather and Andrea were all astounded, gaping at Akira's perfect form as he stood, crouched and glaring, on the court's floor.  
  
Andrea was the newest addition to the girls sick of Akira-syndrome [or Rukawa-syndrome as known in Kanagawa…]. Her arms loosened grip from Nicole's and focused all her attention to Akira's great play. Her eyes took shape of pink hearts. Nicole didn't seem to mind. Maybe she was trying so hard to hide her admiration for Akira as well…  
  
'Nice pass,' he commented, looking at Kaede. Kaede smiled back. Hanamichi, for no apparent reason, was seething.  
  
'Whoa, I guess I underestimated you guys,' said Seth, panting.  
  
Kaede laughed, his hands on his hips.  
  
The ball was in John's hands. He was a couple of centimeters taller than Hanamichi and it was obvious the latter was having a hard time defending. Or maybe everyone misjudged him. Quick as flash, he tapped the ball from John's hands, and it landed on Kaede's.  
  
Kaede was giving Seth a hard time. Guiding his way with his left arm, he pushed toward goal, dribbling the ball under him. Seth, and everyone else, who all the while thought he was aiming for a dunk, were on their heels guarding under the basket. Kaede had other plans though, he took a few steps back, and feinted. Three-points. The Japanese team was at the lead already by 10 points.  
  
Heather's face flushed at the shot. 'God Nick, I think I am in love…' she mumbled under her breath. Heart bubbles seemed to float away from her.  
  
'You aren't the only one…' Andrea's words flitted out of her lips dreamily.  
  
Nicole was at a loss of words. 


	12. Spy Game

Chapter 12 – Spy Game  
  
The game was over and the Japanese team won by 15 points difference. Seth, Alfred and John might as well be dead of exhaustion.  
  
They already left, Sakuragi with them. Sendoh knew it was time to unveil the plan.  
  
*  
  
Andrea was stuck in a daze, still staring at the empty basketball court perhaps dreaming about how gorgeous the guys looked. Heather wasn't surprised. Nicole wasn't either. Ignoring Andrea, Heather turned to Kaede.  
  
'Look I have to tell you something,' Heather and Kaede said at the same time.  
  
Heather giggled. 'Okay you first.'  
  
'No, no, you first,' said Kaede, grinning handsomely. Heather's stomach fluttered happily. Though he was tired, breathing heavily and sweaty even for the weather, he still looked cute. And she meant real cute. Heather was having a hard time imagining how smoothly he moved despite his winter clothes while dribbling ball in court.  
  
*He is just gorgeous* she thought. 'We won't be with you tomorrow because we have work to do,' Heather explained.  
  
*  
  
Sendoh almost jumped with triumph. The plan was going perfectly. 'Really?' Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rukawa sulking. Sendoh knew Rukawa hated it when he was wrong. He was trying to talk Sendoh out of the plan.  
  
'We have to do things too you see,' Sendoh said. 'The company told me to attend this meeting about uhm…basketball shoes suitable for the new breed of players.'  
  
'Lame,' mumbled Rukawa. 'Do-aho…'  
  
Sendoh smiled despite the comment.  
  
*  
  
'Oh that is perfect. I guess we can reschedule our plans next time?' asked Heather sweetly. She knew it. Her intuition was getting sharper everyday.  
  
'Sure,' agreed Kaede.  
  
Nicole shrugged. Deep inside Heather knew her friend still had doubts about her plan. Well Nicole didn't know Heather well enough. This plan wasn't going to fail anytime soon.  
  
*  
  
Nicole managed to drag Andrea out of the court and snap her out of her daydream. There was a sharp pang of jealousy in Nicole's heart. But she wasn't being possessive over the girl. For some strange reason, she felt it was rather otherwise.  
  
'Akira is just wonderful,' Andrea gushed as they went home.  
  
Nicole knew Heather was thankful enough that Andrea liked Akira than Kaede. She sighed. Christmas was in the air and Nicole was afraid she would lose Andrea before Christmas comes. And she was surprised the thought did not scare her at all. In fact, she was actually happy Andrea was soon to be out of her hands.  
  
'Bye Nick,' Andrea whispered as she jumped out of Nicole's car. She smiled mischievously and strutted toward her apartment lightly. Just like a person who just found her soulmate.  
  
'Whatever,' muttered Nicole.  
  
She was being possessive all right. And Nicole was afraid she was being possessive about Akira. Maybe…although she would hate to admit it, she liked Akira after all…and more than she could ever think.  
  
*  
  
'How exactly do you plan to get in this place?' asked Nicole, staring at the door leading to Kaede ad Akira's hotel room.  
  
Heather grinned mischievously. 'Nick, dahling you are underestimating Heather the great!' She laughed evilly, taking out a skeleton key from her pocket. 'I would never come here unprepared. I told you this plan is foolproof.'  
  
Nicole rolled her eyes. 'C'mon Heath, this is illegal intrusion…'  
  
*  
  
'They'd never know anyway,' Sendoh reasoned out, turning the doorknob. 'You know this place?'  
  
Rukawa nodded half-heartedly, entering the house after Sendoh. He peered outside for people watching. For all they know, someone might be calling the police already. 'Where do we look first?' he asked.  
  
'Nicole's room,' answered Sendoh. He was already upstairs.  
  
Then Rukawa heard loud noises from upstairs. Sounds like Sendoh freaking out.  
  
'Aahh! Get it off me!'  
  
'Shiro!' exclaimed Rukawa. Shiro was at Sendoh's feet, pissing on his pants. 'He likes you,' Rukawa pointed out.  
  
Shiro was barking happily as it encircled Rukawa's feet and wagged its tail.  
  
'Likes,' muttered Sendoh. 'More like hates.'  
  
'Do-aho…'  
  
*  
  
'Hmm…they sure do know how to fix their hotel room,' Heather commented, kicking a pile of dirty clothes scattered on the floor.  
  
'You can say that again,' agreed Nicole.  
  
'Hmm…they sure do know now to fix their hotel room,' repeated Heather.  
  
'I get your point,' Nicole said, rolling her eyes.  
  
'Yeah but I don't get yours why you had to make me repeat that again.'  
  
Nicole fell over. 'Heath…' She sighed. 'What exactly are we looking for anyway?'  
  
'Whatever will tell us which of them is which,' Heather replied.  
  
'God Heath, that sure was helpful,' Nicole retorted sarcastically as she sat down on the bed.  
  
'Gee, thanks. I know I would be much of a help.'  
  
*  
  
'Is this really Nicole's room?' Sendoh asked Rukawa, staring at the clothes hanging inside the cabinet.  
  
Rukawa nodded.  
  
'Looks more like Heather's room than Nicole's. These are all boy's clothes here,' noticed Sendoh, closing the door. 'That's a very useful clue.'  
  
*  
  
'Yeah look at this.' Heather motioned Nicole to the half-open bag sitting on the chair beside the bathroom door. 'I think this is Akira's bag. It's got a lot of gel on it…'  
  
Nicole peered in and rummaged through the large stock of gel inside. 'No wonder his hair is always up,' she said. 'A week in London and I think I see twenty bottles of gel in this thing. Well, talk about depriving the world of hair gel.'  
  
'This must be Kaede's bag.' Heather giggled at she opened the knapsack beside the suitcase Nicole was fumbling about. 'Hey, your letters are here.'  
  
Heather fell over.  
  
*  
  
'No wonder you don't know anything about each other,' remarked Sendoh picking himself up from the floor, as he read Rukawa's letter to Nicole. 'Three sentences. Very nice Rukawa. And You consider yourselves penpals.'  
  
Rukawa shrugged. 


	13. Clues

Chapter 13 - Clues  
  
Sorry guys! I never thought 4th year high school could be so tough.! I don't really know how to balance my time anymore. But if this pleases you, here it is! After like more than 6 months?! Haha thanks for all the reviews! And it's very timely.since it's Christmas and the setting is Christmas also! :P I have to admit one thing, I need reviews to be able to finish my fics.( I am making it a point from now on I'll write fics for the enjoyment of my readers! I love you all!  
  
Merry Christmas!!!!  
  
*  
  
'Dear Nicole, We won the game against Ryonan. But we lost against Kainan. Wish me luck with the Inter High. -Rukawa Kaede'  
  
'She sure keeps letters,' Sendoh commented. 'Though they really are pointless. And you do call yourselves pen pals. If I was the girl I would never ever stick with you.'  
  
Rukawa ignored the comment.  
  
*  
  
'These letters are so long. I wonder how long it takes him to finish reading them,' said Heather, flipping over the 5-page back-to-back letter of Nicole to Kaede. Heather laughed. 'What's this? A novel?'  
  
Nicole rolled her eyes. 'It's not everyday I get to meet a decent guy.'  
  
'Decent? Well you can say.' Heather flushed. 'Well what do you know about decent guys long ago anyway? You were barely 10 years old! Hah! Who are you kidding Nicky?'  
  
Nicole just had to roll her eyes again.  
  
*  
  
Rukawa completely ignored Sendoh and proceeded with spying on his own. He looked from here to there, went from here to there, until he came across the bathroom. He peeked in and blinked.  
  
It was immaculately clean as he remembered it to be long time ago. Nicole and he used to play inside the bathroom rubber duckies when they got bored of the snow outside. [They never took a bath together take note. You readers might just get the wrong impression.*evil glint in eyes*] They used to turn the warm and cool faucets on and get soaked and stay inside the bathroom for hours playing.  
  
Rukawa strained to think if he laughed while they were playing. It seemed pretty funny now that he did not laugh while playing. But wasn't it the same as basketball? Wasn't basketball playing also? And laughing while playing basketball wasn't really a rule right?  
  
The memories were so blurred already. Besides it was more than a decade ago.he couldn't possible remember everything.  
  
[*cackles* Rukawa with rubber duckies? Am I ruining his image or what??? *runs*]  
  
Ignoring the hazy reminiscences, he scanned the place with his falcon eyes, as if knowing he was going to find something extremely useful in there. Well, true to his instincts, he did.  
  
*  
  
'I do not even know what we are looking for to prove Kaede is Akira and vice versa,' Nicole breathed out, aggravated with their 'search'. 'You are not even helping me in the first place!' She eyed Heather with utmost irritation.  
  
Heather was busy giggling her heart out reading Nicole's letter's to Kaede.  
  
'HEATHER!'  
  
How very predictable, Heather did not even budge from sitting pleasurably on what seems to be Kaede's bed, still reading.  
  
Nicole let out a huge breath of indignation and surveyed the room on her own. She was about to open the closet when Heather let out a huge 'Eeeeewww.'  
  
'What is it Heath?'  
  
'Akira sure knows how to put on gel,' remarked Heather sarcastically, looking at her hands fouled with spilled gel.  
  
Nicole walked over toward Heather and inspected the mess. 'Where did this come from?' she asked.  
  
'I had just finished reading your particularly long letter and was hoping to read some more so I rummaged into the bag and.well felt something gooey inside. When I pulled out my hand there it was!'  
  
*  
  
'Sendoh-kun!' Rukawa called, his eyes focused on a pair of what seemed like small blue glass discs on the side of the bathroom sink.  
  
'Nani?' Sendoh replied out loud.  
  
'Are these contact lenses?'  
  
It wasn't long until Sendoh was already in the bathroom with Rukawa, staring at the blue discs as well. He nodded thoughtfully. 'Yeah.' He tapped his chin. 'Whose room is this again?'  
  
'Nicole and Heather's,' answered Rukawa.  
  
'You know I sense something fishy,' Sendoh told Rukawa. 'Since a while ago I haven't seen anything of Nicole's yet. The clothes here are all guy clothes.presumably Nicole's.'  
  
Rukawa nodded.  
  
'So I guess these contacts are Heather's as well.'  
  
*  
  
Wincing, Nicole pulled out the used shirt inside Kaede's bag stained with blobs of hair gel. 'Ugh.! I do not know Kaede uses gel.'  
  
'Isn't Akira the one using it?' Heather asked.  
  
'Yeah.' Nicole's voice trailed off and her eyes, pensive. She peered back into the bag again and noticed a lost gel bottle inside. Same brand and size as the ones in Akira's bag. 'Now why would this be here?'  
  
'Maybe Akira mistook Kaede's bag with his own or something?' Heather assumed. 'Or maybe Akira was mad at Kaede and.had this spilled gel inside for revenge.'  
  
Nicole made a face. 'But that's silly,' she told Heather. 'One thing that confuses me is.this is the shirt Akira was wearing yesterday. And it is in Kaede's bag. Don't tell me this has to be another revenge scheme or something.' 


End file.
